I Do
by moonreader
Summary: “… It’s still four days until Christmas,” Remus said carefully. That last vase had hurt… “But, Remus, I’m a bad mum!” Tonks wailed. A short, fluffy portrait of the Lupin family, written for the Metamorfic Moon Pink Christmas Advent.


**Title**: _I Do_, **or** _Mums in Pink Pyjamas_

**Rating & Warnings**: K+ and a warning for fluff.

**Prompts**: Word: Pyjamas

Quote: "Christmas was on its way. Lovely, glorious, beautiful Christmas, upon which the entire kid year revolved." ~ A Christmas Story

**Summary**: _"Tonks, what matters is that we survived. We made our decisions so Teddy could live in a better world. And it's still four days until Christmas," Remus said carefully. That last vase had _hurt_… "But, Remus, I'm a bad mum!" Tonks wailed. _A short, fluffy portrait of the Lupin family, written for the Metamorfic_Moon Pink Christmas Advent.

**Era**: AU, after DH (a.k.a. DenialVerse ;)

**Featured Characters & Other Pairings**: Remus/Tonks, Teddy

**Genres**: Humour, Family.

**Author's Notes**: The quote of the story Tonks reads to Teddy is taken from pages 33 and 34 of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_, US hardcover edition.

Dedicated to:

**Bad Mum**, partly because her name came up in this unexpectedly, and partly because she writes such lovely Harry Potter fics;

And to **mrstater****, godricgal, gilpin25, **and** ladybracknell ** – the R/T Golden Quartet – for their dedication, inspiration, and all-around awesomeness.

And without further ado….

"…The three witches and the knight set off down the hill together, arm in arm, and –"

"Tonks, love?"

Tonks looked up at her husband, pink curls bouncing. "Yeah?"

"I think he's asleep," Remus whispered, nodding his head towards Teddy's cot.

Tonks looked down at her son, curled up in his cradle with his natural brown hair. (Remus thought that it was the brown of _his_ hair, but Tonks insisted that it was from her family.)

"I didn't even notice." She turned back to Remus, who was leaning against the doorframe. "Am I a bad mum?"

"What makes you say that, love?" Remus asked carefully. He stayed in the doorway in case Tonks got the urge to throw a vase (her pregnancy had been marked by fits of hormonal insecurity and outbursts). Of course, there had also been the time she had morphed snakes for hair… but he would rather not think about that.

"I dunno!" Tonks said, her voice rising dangerously until Remus threw a meaningful glance towards Teddy's cot. She continued in a quieter tone, "I'm just not a very… mum-type person! I mean, just _look _at me!"

Remus did look, with more than a little appreciation. Tonks was wearing a draping pale pink top patterned with garish pink Christmas trees, and matching pyjama bottoms, which fit her quite nicely….

"Remus, you're not listening to me!"

"Huh?" Remus managed, dragging his gaze back her face.

"I was _saying_," Tonks continued with dogged determination, "That I just don't feel like a mum! I can't do any mum-type stuff – I can't cook, I can't clean, I can't even pick up my own baby without tripping over my own feet!"

Now, that was a bit of an overstatement, in Remus's opinion. Tonks had only tripped while carrying Teddy once, and, in that instance, he had been there to catch both of them. "Well, I caught you both," he said logically.

"Exactly!" Tonks said fiercely. "I don't want to have to depend on anyone to catch me – and damn you for being so bloody logical!"

Remus blinked.

"… I _left_ him, Remus. I left him to go and fight. I left him behind when he was crying for me. And now I can't even remember to buy my own kid a bloody Christmas present!"

"Tonks, what matters is that we survived. We made our decisions so Teddy could live in a better world. And it's still four days until Christmas," Remus pointed out carefully. That last vase had _hurt_…

"But, Remus, I'm a bad mum!" Tonks wailed.

Teddy woke and began to wail along with his mother, his hair turning indigo.

"See?" Tonks said, running to the cot and scooping up her crying son. "I woke him up! I'm a _terrible_ mum, and he knows it."

Abruptly, Teddy's wispy hair shifted colour to match his mother's, and his wails turned into contented gurgles.

Remus came over to wrap his arms around them, his family. He still couldn't believe how lucky he was, but, then again, even Prongs had told him many times that being a father never stopped coming as a shock. Remus realized with a start that Teddy was almost the age Harry had been when Voldemort had come to Godric's Hollow.

"I think he has the final say, love," he told Tonks. "And he seems to think you're a good mum."

"Well, I have a lot to measure up to," Tonks said, beginning to sound more like herself. (The Healers had said that her mood swings would have ended months ago, but Remus was sure that they had been lying.)

"Whom do you have to measure up to?" he asked. Tonks had never exactly held her mother up as a maternal role model.

"You," Tonks said simply, turning around so that Teddy was cradled between them.

"I haven't had much experience as a father," Remus said, looking down at his – month old son.

"I would damn well hope not, unless you have a child tucked away somewhere that you haven't told me about!"

Remus's mouth twitched. "Nope, sorry."

"But you're such a good parent compared to me!" Tonks continued, while Teddy reached for a lock of her hair, batting it with his tiny hand. "Don't you think Teddy will be so disappointed if I don't get him anything for Christmas?"

Remus looked at his wife. "Teddy loves _you_, not his presents. I think he knows that having you here, alive and whole, is a bigger gift than any toy broomstick."

"How did you get to be so smart?" Tonks said, wrapping her arms around him as well as Teddy. (Remus suspected that she morphed to do this, but he couldn't be quite sure.)

He chucked, reciprocating the gesture with one arm around her waist and the other cradling Teddy. "Hanging out with you, love."

"Flatterer," Tonks grumbled, but she leaned in to give him a quick kiss.

"Tonks?" Remus said.

"Yeah?" she asked, pulling away just far enough to see his face.

"Where'd you get those pyjamas?"

Tonks smirked. "Do you like them?"

"Yes," Remus told her. "Can they be my Christmas present?"

Tonks opened her mouth.

"On second thought," Remus amended, "Perhaps a pair without those hideous trees?"

"What's wrong with the trees?" Tonks asked. Remus winced. "If you insist, though," she added with a grin.

"I do," Remus said, kissing her again, then planting a kiss on Teddy's forehead. "I do."


End file.
